The Plank
Day 1: Caribbean
Day 2: Charleston
Day 3: Carolina Coast
Day 4: Beaufort
Day 5: Bath
Day 6: Ocracoke

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THE ABCs of PIRACY: A glossary of terms

ACTS OF TRADE AND NAVIGATION: England created laws that made it illegal for any country but England to sell goods to English colonies. Under a system that favored English merchants -- they could set prices unrealistically high -- colonists found it more profitable to buy cheaper goods from pirates and smugglers. The Acts of Trade and Navigation greatly encouraged piracy.

BUCCANEER: Another term for pirate. It comes from the word "boucan" -- a wooden framework that inhabitants of some Caribbean islands used to cure meat. When French refugees settled on those islands, they survived by hunting wild game and employing the boucan. They became known as buccaneers; some later left the islands and became pirates.

CAROLINA: In manuscripts and archives, this term may refer to North Carolina or to South Carolina. The two colonies were not formally separated until 1729. In the early years, three governments existed within the region known as Carolina: one at Albemarle, one at Cape Fear, and one at Charles Town.

CAREENING: A term to describe a procedure in which seaman turned a ship nearly on its side in order to scrape barnacles and other sea life off the ship's bottom. When material built up on a ship's bottom, it was slowed considerably -- and speed was often a matter of life and death at sea. Two or three times a year, pirates had to find a safe harbor to "careen" and clean their ship. This was when a pirate ship was most vulnerable. To tilt a ship, pirates shifted as much weight -- cannons and cargo-- as they could to one side. Then they repeated the procedure in reverse. When harbored near land, they sometimes swung heavy ropes around trees to pull the ship on its side.

COLORS: The flags that a shipped displayed to indicate its nationality.

Jerry Wolford / News & Record A doubloon

DOUBLOON: The highest value Spanish coin in circulation during the 16th and 17th centuries. The heavy gold coin often carried the King of Spain's head on one side and the Spanish coat of arms on the other. Spain also minted the half doubloon, the quarter doubloon (pistole), and the eighth doubloon.

EIGHT: As in "pieces of eight." It took 16 pieces of eight to equal the worth of one doubloon. A piece of eight was a crudely cut silver coin. In Spain, silver coins were known as "reales" and gold coins were known as "escudos."

FREEBOOTERS: A term pirates frequently called themselves.

FREETRADERS: A term smugglers frequently called themselves.

HISPANIOLA: An island frequently visited by pirates. Now Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

JOLLY ROGER: A popular term for the black flag hoisted above a pirate ship. It carried many different symbols, the most common of which was the skull and crossbones. It was a signal to a merchant ship to surrender immediately and await boarding.

KEEL HAULING: A form of punishment pirates usually reserved for each other when a serious rule was broken. A rope would be attached to a victim's feet and another rope attached to the victim's hands. The victim would then be pulled under the bottom of the ship and dragged along its barnacle-encrusted bottom. Some victim's drowned. Others were cut badly and bled to death.

LETTER OF MARQUE: The official document or license that authorized privateers to attack and plunder an enemy vessel. Governments such as England routinely issued letters of marque and commissioned vessels to capture or sink ships from warring nations.

MAROON: For serious infractions, pirates would often abandon, or "maroon," a colleague on a desert island without food or water.

NEW PROVIDENCE: The island in the Bahamas, now Nassau, where early 17th century pirates congregated, caroused, and essentially ruled.

OCRACOKE: During the 16th and 17th centuries, this small island off the coast of North Carolina was known as "Ocacock." Pirates, most notably Blackbeard, frequented the island and used it as a base to raid passing ships.

PRIVATEER: This is term applied to a seaman who served aboard ships that were specifically commissioned to pillage and plunder the ships of an enemy nation. Privateering was a cheap way for one country to wage war against another. England, for instance, keenly understood the value of wrecking the maritime commerce of Spain and France by using privateers. When an enemy ship was plundered, the booty was split between the privateers and the country that sponsored their exploits.

PURCHASE: Another term for plunder. Among privateers, their motto was: "No purchase, no pay" which was a way of acknowledging that they were working on a commission of sorts. They only got paid if they successfully plundered another ship. Among pirates, their motto was: "No prey, no pay." The meaning was the same.

QUARTER: Another term for mercy. A pirate would indicate that he would fight to the finish and take no prisoners by saying he would "give no quarter."

REVENGE: One of the most common names that pirates chose to name their vessel.

Photo illustration by Jerry Wolford / News & Record A sloop

SLOOP: A vessel having one fore-and-aft rigged mast with a mainsail and one single foresail. These ships could move very quickly through the water.

SPANISH MAIN: The term applies to the mainlands of Central and South America that were seized or ruled by Spain. Pirates often plundered ships enroute to Spain that were carrying gold and silver coin minted in Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia.

THATCH: Among the names Blackbeard called himself. Most commonly, he is known as Edward Teach, but his contemporaries referred to him as Thatch, Tatch, and Tache.

TOPSAIL: What the area of North Carolina now known as Beaufort was called in the 17th and 18th centuries.

UTRECHT: The Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713, ending hostilities between England and France. Many English privateers who continued to prey on French ships after that accord were considered outlaws. Thousands of English seaman who worked as privateers were suddenly without a job after the Treaty of Utrecht. Many of them turned to a life of piracy.